OIC demands action against Israeli atrocities

Jeddah: The world's largest Muslim bloc Thursday urged the UN Security Council to force a halt to Israel's air war on Gaza that has killed more than 80 Palestinians in three days. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, after a meeting of its executive committee in Jeddah, said it was forming a ministerial team to lobby the Security Council and international community "to halt the Israeli aggression." The committee demanded that OIC ambassadors in Geneva call a meeting with the UN Human Rights Council to form an international commission to investigate Israel’s crimes and violations. OIC summit presidents, foreign ministers and members of the committee on Jerusalem must mobilize efforts as soon as possible and network with international actors, said a committee statement. The committee also demanded that the international community place settler leaders and extremist groups, such as Hilltop Youth, on the list of terrorists and the most wanted in the international justice system. “The OIC must provide legal proof to reinforce that the current Israeli administration is a racist Apartheid government according to international law,” said Iyad Madani, OIC secretary-general. “The OIC must face the bitter reality lived by the Palestinians both before and after the invasion and aggression,” he said, adding: “The Islamic Group in New York has issued a statement calling for the Security Council to assume its responsibilities in compelling Israel to stop its aggression,” he said. “Israel has violated all international and human conventions,” charged the Saudi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Nizar Obaid Madani, who chaired the Jeddah meeting. The 57-member OIC said it would also push for an urgent meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to investigate “the crimes of occupying power Israel and its violations of the rights of Palestinians”. Arab News